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Dahlia Society of California -
May, 2004
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As a career
consultant to commercial fruit & vegetable growers in the Central
Valley, Kevin brings years of experience to us. Kevin and his wife
Karen also operates the only commercial Dahlia Grower in the Bay area.
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Please bring
your extra roots & cuttings to share. Calendars, ADS Classification
Books & tuber marking pencils will be available for sale as well.
Baker Bill reminded us that due to an oversight in
the Agenda, no one has signed up to bring refreshments to our May
meeting.
Would you be the volunteer to bring refreshment. Please can call "Baker
Bill" at 650-871-7200 to sign up.
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NEXT MEETING:
Tuesday, May 11th
2004 @ 8PM @ 9th & Lincoln.
Program:
Kevin
Larkin
will be speaking on Dahlia fertilization: how it should done and and
what is on the market. This will be a really in-depth presentation as
Kevin did a lot of research on this subject. |
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A YEAR OF DAHLIAS
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Erik G reprised
his wonderful slide show somehow linking Sunny Jim’s reign as SF Mayor,
historical trivia, including Market Street ballast stones, Conservatory tuffa rock & Barry Bond’s homerun record. |
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In 1926, a single
dahlia tuber cost $15; men worked all day for $5. So the $3 for
Deborah’s foot-tall plants & the $2 for Bill’s sprouted tubers was such
a bargain they almost sold out. |
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Erik invited
everyone to his annual picnic potluck on August 14 at the Dahlia Dell. |
Lou C brought in
and sold 2 dozen chicken wire Root Guard Gopher Baskets donated by
ex-mayor of Novato, John Mani. Elsie sold more tuber marking pencils.
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Dennis and Lucia
brought in a Gordian Knot: a Cheyenne left in the ground for 7 years.
This behemoth, weighing over 70 pounds, illustrated why we recommend
dividing at least every other year. |
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Erik G. made a
valiant attempt to whittle off a few sprouted roots which quickly went
to good homes. |
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Thanks to DJ for
his sinfully rich chocolate bars, to Frank for his muffins & cookies, &
to Bill for his scrumptious sweet sherry wine cake. Ted flitted in to
shoot pictures before buzzing off around the world. Please tell him how
much you appreciate photos in the newsletter.
Bill demonstrated
a wonderful greenhouse he made as well as sharing more milk cartons with
members. |
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TUBER SALE 2004
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Despite bringing
all the Dahlia Dell tubers, plus Barbara’s, Roger’s & Soc’s roots, we
had a paucity of “potatoes” for the public. |
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However, Deborah
trucked in 100 milk carton full of plants. |
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And, the
Greenhouse Team (Lou, Gerda & Erik) dazzled us all with over 1500 4x4’s
of almost 80 different varieties including many cultivated from Dave
Spencer’s English favorites. |
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Lou Lombardi
hefted in 200 gorgeous cuttings of AA’s & A’s (which he’d been cosseting
since Dec!). |
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Surely looked
like a Cutting Sale! |
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Wow! |
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The
Cornishes documented the Greenhouse Team in action & built a story board
to show the public. |
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Elsie
arranged for Henry Tannenbaum to feature dahlias on his morning show by
featuring some of the Juuls' tubers & cuttings. |
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In
addition to donating a case of her calendars to add to the books &
membership totals, Carol made amazingly life-like dahlia boutonnières
which she is selling for $4 online at
www.frontporchphotography.com.
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Mike
drove in from Napa to arrive at 6:45 am; Jamie came all the way from
Petaluma. Thanks to everyone for early organizing; we set up in record
time so we had plenty of time to graze the remarkable attractions.
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The
Dingwalls signed up 22 new members. Rudy left doormen Richard & Dana
collecting addresses for next year’s sale to hand roll his utterly
scrumptious spinach balls. (Louise, Tinsky & Deborah kept popping back
to the kitchen to execute quality control on them…) |
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We
munched potluck lunch while straggling gardeners still had great
selections of cuttings to choose from. Joanne’s potato salad
disappeared in a twinkling. DJ & Deborah’s casseroles were scraped to
the bottom. |
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Mmmmmm! |
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DAHLIA DELL DOINGS
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With the new
removable irrigation system installed by Ted and Deborah, it is time to
plant this year's new crop of Dahlias. |
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Jamie
sledged in stakes. Barbara & Tinnee shoveled more holes than a manic
gopher. New volunteer, April, doled out fertilizer & meticulously
bermed rows. Melissa taught the art of milk carton transplant. Diane
plotted dahlia names to the master plan.
Thank you all for such strenuous efforts after an entire morning at the
Tuber Sale. |
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Lou, Gerda &
Erik’s cuttings already thrive for another great season at Chez Dell.
Tinnee, Melissa & DJ will cultivate the Hillside soon. |
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FABULOUS FIFTY & CREAM
OF THE CROP
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The
March ADS Bulletin lists those cultivars which won more than 50 blues
last year as well as the Best of each size & shape. |
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Also reported are
DJ’s Second place in the National Photography Competition as well as his
Honorable Mention; these awards will complement his photography medal
from the 2002 national contest. Ask him for his secrets. |
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A fierce
competitor, Roy Stier is recovering well from a triple by-pass heart
operation. |
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MUNCHINGLY MAY!
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Give
your dahlias enough room. Ideally plant 3’ apart although some of the
smaller poms, orchids, or mignon singles can be cramped a bit closer.
Planting Tubers: dig a hole 8” deep; add & mix with soil a balanced
fertilizer (e.g. 10-10-10 or 16/16/16); pound in a stake with LABEL. |
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Lie
tuber on side with eye facing sky; cover with 2-3” of good soil, so
there is a shallow declivity (as the plant grows, fill in the hole);
water once lightly then NOT AGAIN UNTIL YOU SEE GREEN SPROUTS.
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Planting Cuttings: same procedure; plant up to first leaves. Remember
that tubers & cuttings need drastically different levels of watering.
Cuttings rely on new roots, necessitating frequent quenching; tubers
start with no roots, so should only be watered once, then NOT AGAIN
until the green shoots appear. Without roots, wet tubers will rot.
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I prefer to wait until my cuttings &
tubers (in milk cartons) are @ a foot tall before I plant them outside.
Every slug & snail in the world seems to know when you plant new
dahlias; bait proactively! Likewise earwigs devour savory green
sprouts; bait proactively! For organic gardeners, earwigs crawl under
wet newspapers, into corrugated cardboard or in bamboo tubes during the
day to avoid sun, so judiciously lay out a few attractive earwig inns &
kill the atrocious guests each morning. |
 May,
2004
eNewsletter of Dahlia Society of California, Inc., San Francisco, CA
Editor: Deborah Dietz
Please
address your editorial questions to
Deborah@SFDahlia.Org
Please address your
layout, circulation and other web questions
to
Ted@SFDahlia.Org |